And then there were 12: Alternate jurors still to be chosen in murder trial

By Timew-News

Published: Friday, August 23, 2013 at 07:41 PM.

GRAHAM — After three weeks of jury selection, the 12th juror was chosen to hear a capital murder case Friday.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys will continue selecting three alternate jurors for the first-degree murder trial of Robert Dennis Dixon when court resumes at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Dixon, 49, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, accused of hiring men to kill his stepmother, Sara Jones Bright Dixon, in November 2007.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury will determine whether Dixon gets life in prison or a death sentence.

The 12th juror is a woman, meaning that the jury tentatively chosen for the case will be made up of seven women and five men. The jury won’t be impaneled until testimony begins Sept. 3. Testimony is expected to last between three and four weeks.

Two men were charged in July 2009 with carrying out Dixon’s murder by breaking into her home and shooting her while she slept Nov. 28, 2007. Thomas Clay Friday, 40, pleaded guilty in March 2012 to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence. He is expected to testify in Dixon’s trial. Matthew Devon Fields, 25, is also charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty. His case is still pending.

Jury selection will continue at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the superior courtroom of the Alamance County Historic Courthouse.

GRAHAM — After three weeks of jury selection, the 12th juror was chosen to hear a capital murder case Friday.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys will continue selecting three alternate jurors for the first-degree murder trial of Robert Dennis Dixon when court resumes at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Dixon, 49, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, accused of hiring men to kill his stepmother, Sara Jones Bright Dixon, in November 2007.

If found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury will determine whether Dixon gets life in prison or a death sentence.

The 12th juror is a woman, meaning that the jury tentatively chosen for the case will be made up of seven women and five men. The jury won’t be impaneled until testimony begins Sept. 3. Testimony is expected to last between three and four weeks.

Two men were charged in July 2009 with carrying out Dixon’s murder by breaking into her home and shooting her while she slept Nov. 28, 2007. Thomas Clay Friday, 40, pleaded guilty in March 2012 to first-degree murder in exchange for a life sentence. He is expected to testify in Dixon’s trial. Matthew Devon Fields, 25, is also charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty. His case is still pending.

Jury selection will continue at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the superior courtroom of the Alamance County Historic Courthouse.